Thirty Seconds to Mars ready to rock second half of Epicenter Twenty Ten this weekend in Fontana

When the new rock festival Epicenterpremiered last year, with a stellar lineup that included Tool, Linkin Park, Alice in Chains, Wolfmother and Atreyu, co-creator Gary Spivack -- the man who, along with his company Right Arm Entertainment, is also responsible for Ohio's popular Rock on the Range bash -- wasn't sure if the one-off shindig could become an annual event.

Leading up to that event in Pomona, modeled after the massive California Jam bashes of the '70s, Spivack would only hint that Epicenter's future hinged on how it fared in its debut. “Let's just say that if everyone shows up Saturday, that will help the decision,” he told me in our interview last year.

When about 35,000 people turned out, it instantly became clear that there would indeed be a second Epicenter. And though rumors of expansion, relocation and oddly matched headliners making exclusive appearances started swirling months before an official announcement -- accompanied by fake fliers, much like what happens with Coachella every spring -- most of the random postings about what's now billed as Epicenter Twenty Ten, Saturday and Sunday at the Auto Club Raceway in Fontana, turned out to be true.

Saturday's roster pairs the pyrotechnic blasts of Kiss (the only California show from the masked men all year) and the first major performance from Gavin Rossdale and the reunited British grunge rockers of Bush with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including newly sober and still chart-topping Eminem (in his sole West Coast appearance this year) and OutKast's Big Boi. Also on tap: Papa Roach, House of Pain, Crash Kings, Big B with Scott Russo, the Knux, Smile Empty Soul, Deuce, Kinda Major and the Envy.

Sunday's fare, capped by Blink-182's only North American performance in 2010, boasts a more punk-based bill that also features Rise Against (its only California gig all year), Jared Leto's band Thirty Seconds to Mars, and sets from mainstays like Bad Religion and Suicidal Tendencies, as well as the unveiling of former Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg's new band, the Black Pacific. Also slated to play: Against Me!, A Day to Remember, the Academy Is ..., Black Veil Brides, New Politics and Biffy Clyro.

For L.A.-based Thirty Seconds to Mars, Epicenter marks not only its largest local show yet but one of few times the band has actually performed in America in the last couple years.

Despite occasional homecomings, like a May gig at the Greek Theatre and a brief set last December as part of KROQ's annual Almost Acoustic Christmas gatherings at Gibson Amphitheatre, the band -- vocalist/guitarist Leto plus his drumming brother Shannon Leto and guitarist Tomo Milicevic, plus assorted supporting players -- has mostly performed overseas, performing to tens of thousands at sold-out arenas in the U.K., France, Germany and Japan.

Once a lengthy run behind second album A Beautiful Lie (from 2005) came to an end, there wasn't much time to tour stateside before the trio headed back into the studio -- and wound up taking nearly 18 months to record its latest disc, This Is War, which also established that the group now spells out the 30 in its moniker.

The recording process, Shannon Leto says in a recent phone interview, was a “grueling journey,” but the album that came from it has spawned two of the group's bigger radio singles, the title track and, more recently, “Kings and Queens.” TSTM was also nominated for four trophies at the annual MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month, including video of the year and best rock video for that latter smash, though the trio took home only one Moon Man, as it mostly got beat out by show-sweeping sensation Lady Gaga.

“We were way, way surprised,” Leto says. “We were like the only rock band that won anything, so it was exciting. You don't expect it because you're just making this music, you know, and doing what you do, and you're not sure what the outcome is going to be and what people will think about it. It's amazing when you wake up in Finland (on tour) and you hear that you've been nominated for four awards. It's like, ‘Where the hell did that come from?'”

TSTM is looking forward to taking part in Epicenter's burgeoning reputation: “It's cool (to play festivals) because you get in front of people that you normally wouldn't play in front of,” Leto says. “And we get to see other great bands, too -- so it's exciting and the energy at those things is always great.”

Following this appearance, the band will head across the Atlantic once again for more dates in the U.K, but Leto says they'll be back touring in America with a “big, big tour in the spring.” Since the band put so much blood, sweat and tears into This Is War, Leto says there really hasn't been time to focus on anything else other than spreading the word about what they consider their most personal work so far.

“We're definitely revealing ourselves a lot more,” he says. “Not that we were holding ourselves back in any sense, but I think with this record you can hear each of our personalities. It definitely defines who we are to date. As we keep evolving through this musical experience, I think you become more and more you. But things change, so who really knows? On the next album we could write about something that's not us -- but this album right now is the most ‘us' album.”

The material on This Is War not only finds the group contending with inner battles but also with more external struggles, whether it be the current political climate or the $30 million lawsuit it has settled with former label Virgin Records. Just a few years ago, throwing in the towel might have seemed an easy out; now, recent achievements have made life pretty sweet.

“You never know what's going to happen,” Leto says. “We had disappeared for a while, especially from America, and to come home and have two No. 1's (on modern-rock charts) and get best rock video nomination -- that's pretty cool. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. It kind of weirds me out a little because I'm just doing my thing and I'm wrapped up in creating and touring, so the accolades that come -- it's kind of hard for me to relate to.”

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